7 Bizarrely Named Towns In Idaho
Some places in the American West have unusual, sometimes downright bizarre town names, and parts of Idaho are no exception. The Gem State, as Idaho is known, includes towns that go by some truly unexpected monikers, which also reveal chapters of local history. That history reflects the names (real and fictional), as well as the key geographies, that helped define Idaho as a state. From communities called Good Grief to the merry town of Santa, these seven oddly-named Idaho towns double as the state's signs of its past, and a local character that endures today.
Chubbuck
Chubbuck, a town of 16,400 in Idaho's southeast, has been called a "horrible and hilarious" town name in local media. Most sources say the town owes its name to railroad conductor Earl Chubbuck. That name, and the farming region surrounding the town, inspired the town's other historical names, which include Chubbuck's Beet Run and Chubbuck Siding. The town later shortened its official name to simply Chubbuck.
The town is a pleasant place to live, as suggested by a population that has grown steadily in recent years. With proximity to recreational areas like the Snake River and the American Falls Reservoir, Chubbuck, just north of larger Pocatello, makes for an attractive suburban environment for work, play, and living. Chubbuck lies in a crook of the L-shaped Fort Hall Reservation that belongs to the federally recognized Shoshone-Bannock tribes, one of five such reservations in Idaho.
Fish Haven
Perhaps strangely for a landlocked state, the name of the hamlet of Fish Haven suggests long-running activity related to the local fish supply and the anglers who sought to catch them. Situated on the west bank of Bear Lake, which straddles the Idaho-Utah border in Idaho's southeast corner, Fish Haven takes its name from the livelihoods of early settlers to the region. It was originally called Rush Creek and named after John A. Bagley and Joseph C. Rich after netting pounds of fish in 1885.
Even now, leisure-seekers can enjoy what observers have called "a fine pleasure resort for people who are fond of fishing," whether from Idaho, Utah, or neighboring Wyoming a few miles to the east. Today's vacationers can relax after a day by the water at Cooper's Restaurant and Sports Bar, with terrific views over Bear Lake.
Good Grief
More a map-dot than a full-fledged town, the location of Good Grief, in the extreme north of the state, owes its notoriety to the 1970s when the television show "Heehaw" included the place in its programming. According to lore, a local entrepreneur in the 1950s bought the town's only general store, prompting his wife to exclaim, "Good grief!"
The site lies just four miles south of the US-Canadian border, in the appropriately named Boundary County. With a Native American history similar to that of Chubbuck, Good Grief stands on the ancestral lands of the Kootenai tribe.
Ketchum
Ketchum, Idaho, population 3,600, took its name from a local 19th-century trapper, David Ketchum, and has attracted pleasure-seekers for decades. Situated next to Sun Valley, a famous ski destination, the central Idaho town converted its origins as a hub for mining and smelting, chucking its earlier name of Leadville in the process.
Today, the town welcomes adventure tourists year-round and offers snow and mountain sports enthusiasts the chance to ride, bike, or run in the area's pristine Rocky Mountains. Ketchum's visitors can soak up local history, too: the town hosts 'Wagon Days' every Labor Day weekend, in a nod to the area's pioneering roots. Ketchum is famous for another, more somber sidenote of history: writer Ernest Hemingway took his own life here in 1961.
Riddle
Can you guess the roots of the town name of Riddle, Idaho? The enigma unravels in the state's southwest corner, just north of the border with Nevada and the Duck Valley Reservation. Riddle lies within Owyhee County, a place name that makes for a puzzle of its own. Sources suggest the place derives its name from the four Riddle brothers who settled here at the end of the 19th century.
The nearby Duck Valley is home to the Shoshone-Paiute Tribe, which gives a few hints about the area's recent and more distant histories. Riddle also served as a fictional setting in the 1997 car-racing action film Vanishing Point, though the actual scenes were shot in Arizona.
Santa
Like so many Christmases past, the town of Santa, mixes the facts and fictions of its naming and history. Originally named after the nearby Santa Anna Creek, the town later became known by the simpler form, Santa. A holiday-themed reputation ensued, as encouraged by local Christmas events and activities.
Set near Coeur d'Alene in west-central Idaho, the town even produces its own Christmas-themed holiday postage stamp and receives mail from far and wide. Santa super-charged its oddness in 2005 when it officially changed its name to SecretSanta.com for a year in exchange for revenue from an online retailer.
Slickpoo
Sometimes, it may seem better not to ask how certain names came to be. Yet, in the case of Slickpoo, in Idaho's northern panhandle, the placename reveals something deeper about the past. Josiah Slickpoo, a settler alive at the turn of the 20th century, helped famous Jesuit missionary Joseph Cataldo make inroads to these parts of the United States during Idaho's early years of statehood. (The priest later founded Gonzaga University in nearby Spokane, Washington.) The settlers in Cataldo interacted with the Nez Perce community of Native Americans present in the region. The Saint Joseph's Mission Church stands in town to this day.
Given the curious and sometimes charming names of Idaho's towns, a label that first feels bizarre often turns out to yield interesting facts about the state's social and historical legacies. That is certainly true in these town names, no matter how seemingly odd. From Chubbuck to Ketchum, from Riddle and Santa to Good Grief, Idaho towns like these may just suggest a truer, deeper notion of the state's essential spirit and the characters whose legacies continue to make Idaho what it is today.
